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We went to Iraq in April to work with Yazidi children and women who have been raped and abused by IS when that attacked their towns in 2014. There are so many heart breaking stories, one of the girls we worked with was sold 6 times between the age of 7 and 10 to IS for sex and endured abuse that is not imaginable, she is unable to walk properly now! They have all seen unimaginable murder of their families and they have also lost their homes and education and now live in a camp in the mountains, which is 40 minutes away from the nearest town and they have nothing. But, they are the most kindest, loving people.

We are hugely passionate about the powerful positive effects of boxing so we stayed in Iraq for 10 days, in which we worked with as many children and women as possible to teach them boxing.We also ran Boxology® Courses (courses we run in the UK for sports coaches/personal trainers to teach them how to coach boxing - www.boxology.academy) to 3 women so when we leave they can teach boxing and carry on this effective therapy to the girls that need help, whilst also earning a living so they can feed their families. The project is called 'Boxing Sisters'. We are returning in July to work with the 3 women coaches in 2 other camps.

All the children and women have been left with devastation mentally and physically, and we are hoping the power of boxing will be able to help them open up about their ordeals, then using my CBT experience talk to them to help them create a coping mechanism. We are hoping to raise 120k so that we can keep 3 safe houses open, where they will have a secure place to feel protected and that they belong. We would be so very grateful, if you could donate as much as you can.

The Lotus Flower charity are a small direct charity that main purpose is to help these women and children by building safe houses and developing education programs, all proceeds go directly to the charity.

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About the charity

The Lotus Flower runs centres for women & girls displaced by conflict, working at grassroots level in the heart of communities employing local women to implement our programmes. The Lotus Flower is a restricted fund under the auspices of Prism the Gift Fund, registered charity number 1099682.